Meta-gaming is making game decisions based on out-of-game criteria.
Forms of meta-gaming:
- Narrative meta-gaming, in which a choice is made to tell a good story
- Strategic meta-gaming, in which a choice is made to manipulate the outcome of the game
- Reality meta-gaming, in which a choice is made because is it believable
- Antagonistic meta-gaming, in which a choice is made in order to destroy a game
- Social meta-gaming, in which a choice is made for a secondary social gain
Meta-gaming is roughtly the antonym of immersion, in which decisions are made from the stance of a character or the conception of a game.